1995 A2Z – My daughter’s 1st Barracuda

@pee30wee@yahoo.com wrote:

Man you done messed up. You have ruined her for life. She will never get married, never give you grandkids, never get a job, all she is gonna do is ride. You will die a lonely old man wondering why you got her addicted. Ha.

And thank the powers that be she looks like her momma.

Naw… she already said she can’t wait to pull her kids around in a Burly trailer, too many great memories in a Burley from her pre-riding days! From 18 months old, she was strapped in trailer, and loving the wind in her face… she has been hooked for years. This Barracuda is her 6th bike, she started on a 10″ wheel, then moved on to a 12″, a 16″, a 20″ banana seat Schwinn, a 20″ Parkpre Team BMX race bike, and finally the 26″ Cuda (can’t forget the 700c Specialized Globe track bike that I’m building right now = #7). I fell in love with bikes when I was 3 years old… my parents and my older sister rode around Lake Tahoe one summer for our family vacation. I was in the kid’s seat on the back of my dad’s light blue Schwinn Le Tour; they went out and bought 3 matching brand new Le Tour bikes for the trip. The speed, the wind, and the freedom were awesome, such a different experience as opposed to being in a car! There was never a question as to whether or not my daughter would ride, the uncertainty was how much she was going to love it!

Ha-Ha, funny man! The thing is, I know full well that you are correct, and I am very thankful that she got her mom’s looks! She got her height and artistic nature from both of us but she got my build and her mom’s beauty. Any boys get bold with her, she’ll knock ’em out… we work out every single day on the heavy bag, we box, and we do mixed martial arts together. Kickin’ A$$ with a beautiful smile!!!

Thanks gang! I am looking forward to hitting the trails, luckily I still have some time to spare and prepare for trail riding. My wife wants to start her out on some fire road, loose rock and some sand but nothing crazy. Peewee likes watching the bike shows, especially those guys that ride around in an old bus (Cuda style) and bomb hardcore trails all over North America. She is thinking that’s what it’s all about, I say this because she hit me up yesterday about where her White Brothers fork was and why it wasn’t on her bike. That’s when I was really glad I built up the rigid 96’er, I pointed out that my bike was rigid and without suspension. “Oh, that’s how we start, right?” Yep, cutie bug, that’s how we start… right on, she bought it! That should give me the better part of a year, maybe two, before she has a “matching Barracuda like mom’s” (my A2L) and really gets after it. I’m planning to document as much as I can, so she has something to look back on. Mine are all memories, my parents never took pictures of anything I did… boring old school pics and my sports team pics… no action shots. Nothing cool to look back on, I’m not going to that same mistake!

Hey gang-

My daughter took her first ride around the neighborhood this week on her A2Z, she loved it!!! Graduating up from a 20″ to a 26″ was no problem, dropping the coaster brake for brake levers was no issue, and she took to gears with ease. She did so well bombin’ round the neighborhood, she wanted to hit the trails behind our home, she has been excited about going since I finished the initial build and sat her on the bike (that was still too big) back in November. Last week after I finished teaching summer school I pulled the A2Z down and rebuilt it with newer shift pods and v-brakes, swapped the wheel set, cut down the seat post, and slapped some new tires on the bike. I did all this in hopes of getting some riding in before I start back to a new school year in a couple weeks, I just didn’t know if she’d be ready for such a jump in size and equipment. We’ve got a big day ahead, she has swim team practice this morning at 10:00, we are going to the fair for a few hours, and she wants to squeeze a ride in tonight before it gets dark. She is only 8 years old but she is 4’8″, wears a size 5 shoe, and is now sharing t-shirts with my wife. She is going to be tall… that’s why she is on basketball, volleyball, and swim teams… anything but sitting in front of the T.V.! She is cool with chillin’ out but she prefers doing art while listening to music as opposed to the tube or video games. I’m very lucky!!! I’m having to play catch up from being down for a month with my jacked up leg, I’m definitely off my game and she is rollin’ like crazy!!!

The last photo is my tech shot… I swapped the bottom pull front derailleur and pulley for a top pull derailleur… drilled the cable guide for Teflon tubing, and used the front derailleur cable stops to run the v-brakes. Pretty clean and works very well… no zip ties… I suggest this mod if you are considering a v-brake swap.